


A Family He'll Return To

by UnicornsAreTheShiz



Category: Voltron - Fandom
Genre: Death, Gen, Langst, Pain, Sad, Self Sacrifice, Voltron, digital art included, honestly probably trash, kill me, projecting onto Lance rn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-20
Updated: 2017-09-19
Packaged: 2018-12-31 19:10:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12139170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnicornsAreTheShiz/pseuds/UnicornsAreTheShiz
Summary: His family broke the hug, and his nieces and nephews ran ahead, into an encompassing light. “Come, Lance. It's your time.” His mother said, a smile on her face.Lance's older sister ruffled his hair. “I've missed you, shorty.” She said as she chuckled. The earnest look behind her eyes told him everything she felt, and Lance started running ahead.“Last one there is a rotten egg!” Lance shouted with a laugh.Instantly, his sister started running behind him, and they went into the warm light, scents of home surrounding him.Lance was finally home with his family, and he wouldn't want it any other way.~~~~~That is way too cheerful of a summary to how it's actually going to be, I'm sorry in advance. Get ready for some tears.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, I've added some crappy digital art I made so yeah kill me!

Dodging a shot from one of the sentries, Lance aimed his bayard and shot; hitting the sentry in the head. Lance rolled behind a large crate, and let out a small whoop for getting to roll for cover like in an action movie. He continued to shoot while listening to the comms. 

“I got the monitor room secured, but it won't hold long now that it's activated. Lance can you head over here to cover me when your done?” Pidge said with a determined voice. 

Lance nodded before remembering they couldn't see him. “Yeah sure, just give me like a,” he paused, shooting the last sentry in the room, “second. Heading your way now.” Lance finished. 

“Okay, good. Keith and Hunk, you guys keep fighting off the ships in our lions. Allura and I finished getting the Mico-drive and are heading back to the castle. Pidge and Lance; you guys be careful.” Shiro commanded, though the relief under his voice was obvious. The mission format was new since they wanted to try shaking things up a little, as Lance put it. This time they had two paladins; Lance and Pidge, on the ground getting information, while two paladins; Hunk and Keith, cover them outside with their lions. This time, Shiro and Allura went to the other side of the ship to retrieve a Mico-drive; a device similar to a flash drive. 

As Lance trotted towards the room Pidge was in, he thought back to his conversation with Allura a month ago. He didn't know why he was remembering it right now, though. It had been like his brain was repressing the memory since he experienced it.  
It had been a year since they left Earth, and Lance would be stupid to not know that time is relative in space. He didn't know the exact numbers, but he knew that either they would've been gone for a while to Earth, or for only a week. Lance had prepared himself for whatever answer she said, but he wasn't expecting what she actually said. 

 

——————

 

Lance knocked on the wall beside the door to alert Allura of his presence, something Lance now did out of fear of the times he had accidentally snuck up on Allura and ended up with a sore arm. Allura turned to him with a small smile, but continued with what she was doing on the projection computer thing. Lance took a deep breath in before asking, “Do you,” Lance paused before continuing. “Do you know how much time has passed on Earth?”

When he spoke, his voice carried a high pitch towards the end, and he cleared his throat. Allura paused what she was doing, and looked at Lance with understanding. “Sure, Lance.” Allura said with a nod and turned back to the computer. Instantly, thousand of stars popped up, and she swiped her hands until they rested at familiar solar system. She zoomed in, and stopped as she asked in a strained voice, “Which planet did you come from again, Lance? I'm sorry, I always forget.”  
Allura was lying, they both knew that. Lance had asked Allura many times to show him Earth, and she had it memorized at this point. Allura was stalling for Lance's sake. Lance had never asked how much time had passed on his planet, he just stared at the blue and green planet with longing. Allura was not prepared for this, and hoped with all her heart that no time had passed for Lance's sake, someone she thought of as family. Lance played along for both of their sakes this time. “It's the third planet from the sun; the blue and green one.” Lance said, nervousness evident in his voice. Allura took a deep breath and turned back to the computer. She clicked on the projection of Earth and pressed some Altean symbols that appeared beside it. At the results, Allura stopped breathing. Despite the difference in Altean years, she had learned the average lifespan of a human a whole back. Allura knew most if not all of Lance's family had perished judging by the numbers on the screen. At Lance clearing his throat, she breathed in before speaking in a watery voice. “I'm sorry Lance, but,” Allura stopped and let a tear fall down her cheek as she turned to Lance. “75 years have passed on Earth.” She finished with a look of grief in her eyes. It felt like time itself had slowed as thoughts raced in her head. She had felt the loss of all of that she'd known, and she would never wish it on anyone. 

She more heard the thump than see it. Lance was on his knees looking down at the ground, tears formed in his eyes. He started laughing, tears starting to stream down his contorted face. “Your.. your joking.” He said between breaths. Soon the laughs turned into sobs, and Lance turned his face to the ground. Allura felt more tears shed on her own face as Lance slowly turned quieter and sobbed silently. He punched the ground over and over as more tears from his face splashed onto the ground. Allura had slid down and sat at the computer. Lance eventually stopped punching the ground and just wrapped his arms around his knees, staying silent. 

They sat like that for a while, both silently crying, before Lance unwrapped his arms from his knees and looked her in the eyes. She saw eyes filled with nothing other than grief and acceptance. Lance attempted a smile, but it turned into a grimace. “We can't tell the others.” He said in a surprisingly even voice. Allura made direct eye contact and nodded, before getting up and quickly walking towards Lance. She wrapped him into a hug, and Lance squeezed back. Lance ended the hug and turned to leave. “Thank you for not lying to me, Allura. It hurts, but, it's better than not knowing.” Lance said as he walked out of the room. Allura sucked in a breath and turned back to the computer. Allura started working again, this time with much more vigor. She couldn't keep these paladins from home, she couldn't keep these children from home. Even if the people they once knew were gone now, she would get them home, no matter what it cost her.

 

As Lance walked to his room, he bumped into Keith. Keith was about to make a playful joke about watching where he was going, but he noticed Lance's red eyes and dried tear tracks. Keith didn't know what Lance was crying about, so he couldn't really help that much, but he did try. Keith set a hand on Lance's shoulder for a minute before turning and walking to the kitchen. He hoped he helped at least a little, and not just weird Lance out.

 

As soon as Lance got to his room, he walked to his bed and lashed down. He stared up at his ceiling, and he felt like tears were going to form. No tears came, nor did any emotions. He felt empty as he distantly thought about the glow in the dark stars he had pasted on the ceiling of his room. He'd never be able to see those stars again. He laid like that until he eventually fell asleep. He didn't dream.

 

——————

 

Lance shook his head, and tried to focus himself. 

Soon, he got to the hallway of the monitor room and noticed the sentries that crowded around the door. He let out a rapid fire of accurate shots and made his way to the door, shooting any sentry that appeared. His back faced the door as he provided cover, and he spoke on the comms to tell Pidge he was there. 

“Okay I'm right outside the door, so don't attack me when your finished. Also; there's more sentries than I thought there'd be. Nothing I can't handle, of course.” Lance said, wishing his wink and grin could be seen over the comms. Shiro ignored his last comment and replied on the comms, “Okay good. Just make sure you let us know if you need backup. They might've noticed our new strategy and did something similar. Be careful.”  
Pidge and Lance both grunted in agreement. 

After a few minutes of Lance providing cover, and Pidge getting information on some of Zarkon's strategies, Pidge finally gave an okay over the comms and exited the monster room. Lance stepped out of the way as Pidge worked her way out of the doorway. Quickly, Pidge led them through a different hallway that they originally used. This one definitely had a more complicated layout and they lost most of their per suers quite quickly. Suddenly a giant shake went through the ship, and something that sounded like a boom left the ship. Pidge and Lance momentarily stopped, but nothing seemed affected, so they continued. 

Everything was going well, but Lance yet again had a pang of nostalgia. This time it was harder to shake it off, and he almost bursted into tears at the thoughts of his mothers home made garlic knots. Pidge seemed to notice he was off, so she cracked a joke.  
“Hey Lance. I guess you could say with these new layouts, Zarkon will become the hunted, and we'll become the hunters. Ayeee.” Pidge joked with a laugh. That joke just reminded him of his family having movie nights, Lance begging to watch actions movies and Star Wars. Despite the bittersweet feeling at the memory, Lance gave a warmhearted chuckle at Pidge's attempt to cheer him up.  
It was at that moment when, for lack of a better phrase, everything went to shiz. Just when they had made it to the hallway near the hangar, almost two dozen shoulder came barreling out of a previously locked door. They were right behind Pidge and Lance, so the two started sprinted immediately. Lance lifted his arm while running and checked his comms, only to find they didn't work.  
“What the-?” Lance said as panic leaked into his voice. Pidge tried her comms, and after a moment of messing with the controls, she cursed. “When the ship shook, I'm pretty sure it sent out a wave of magnetic electricity to mess with our radios, and potentially, our lions!” Pidge shouted in anger. Lance panicked just for a moment longer before he decided he needed a plan. 

First off, the doorway to the hangars could only be locked on one side; the side they were on. One of them would have to go through, and the other would have to press the button to close it. They didn't have time to fight all these sentries, and Lance knew they'd start shooting at the escape pod they came here on to try preventing the from escaping. Pidge could potrnetialy mess with the controls once they both went through the doorway to close after them, but it'd take a lot of time, and the Galran soldiers were already gaining. Pidge didn't seem to notice the dilemma they were facing, so this made things much easier. 

Lance mentally apologized to Pidge. He might not have any family left, but Pidge sure did. Lance would get Pidge out of here and to her family, alive. 

~~~

As soon as they came to the hangars doorway, Lance apologized profusely to Pidge in his mind, in fear of if he did make it out of here alive. Lance lifted up his leg, positioned his foot right behind Pidge's back, and kicked her through the doorway. As Pidge cursed and started tumbling, Lance pressed the button on the doorway. Lance yelled through the door before turning around. “Get in the pod, and get the team! I'll make it out of here fine, just request backup! If you don't leave at this instant, I'll eat space goo over your laptop!”  
At the last threat, he could hear Pidge gasp. After a moment of what Lance knew was Pidge debating to herself, she hit the closed door and cursed so much she'd make a sailor blush. “I, GOING TO KILL YOU LANCE!!!” She ended with, the sound of her furious footfalls fading. Lance turned back to the sentries, and started firing off shots. He ran closer towards them, leaving a space between him and the now shut door. After a minute of using his bayard in its regular form, Lance decided, what the heck, and changed his normal gun into duel pistols. This was a skill Lance learned recently, and he was now officially in the lead with most amount of forms his bayard could change into. This title was worn proudly by Lance, and he loved joking with Keith about it. 

Anyway, Lance shot as fast as he could, and the sentries started to lessen. It had grown since they had originally busted through the door, but Lance had dramatically decreased the amount. There was now only three sentries in front of him, but right as he shot two of them, he felt pain explode through his back. Pumped up on adrenaline, Lance could continue to kill the last sentry, as well as the one that had snuck up behind him. With no more soldiers standing, Lance slumped to the floor, right up against some dark purple crates. As the adrenaline faded, a tsunami of pain hit Lance. It felt like fire was burning his insides, and as Lance looked down, he realized that the shot had passed through. The laser has partially cauterized the wound, but the exit wound on his chest was bleeding freely. Dang weird space weapons that apparently messed with physics! 

 

Suddenly, Lance thought of home. He thought of his family, his neighborhood friends. Almost all of them would be dead by now. Finally, he let tears run down his face. He remembered the ocean at Varadero beach; the way the smell of salt wafted throughout the air and how sand collected between his toes. Lance remembered drinking a Jupino with his older sister. His grandmother made the sweetest Mango Mousse ever. He wondered who the recipe would go to?  
Lance was the best cook out of his siblings, despite them being older than him. He was no where near Hunk's level, but his father had always said Lance made the best Ropa Vieja. His grandparents always joked about Lance getting the Mango Mousse recipe, but now that Lance was gone, who would it go to? 

Would they still make it every year? Did they celebrate his birthday, not in joy, but while mourning? What did they think happened to him? The Garrison probably told them it was a training accident or something, but did his family believe the Garrison? 

While these thoughts floated around his head, he realized he couldn't feel his toes. One glance at the blood around him told Lance the cause. To distract himself, Lance thought of his family, but they drifted into memories. It was like watching a movie play out; a really fast one. Glimpses of birthday parties and holidays swept through his head.  
His niece was so excited that Lance was excepted into the Garrison; Lance always thought she'd become an engineer when she grew up, like Hunk.  
The memories slowed and suddenly Lance didn't feel much of anything. Lance couldn't really think, but colors suddenly started fade, and Lance thought of the ocean. He thought of himself walking along the water, the bottoms of his jeans somehow not getting wet. The soft blues seemed somehow brighter, and distantly he heard someone call his name. 

When he turned to the voice, he saw his mother. Her hair was filled with gray, and she had more wrinkles than he remembered, but still definitely his mother. Oh my god, his mother was here! They ran towards each other and she enveloped him into a warm hug, her citrus smell comforted Lance. She had tears running down her face as she spoke. “My baby, Lance. I knew you didn't die like the Garrison said! I knew you were alive! Oh I've missed you so much, my dear.” Her mellow voice seemed to echo through his ears. 

Suddenly, his family members started surrounding him. They all looked much older than before, but Lance could still recognize them. As they all hugged him, tears streaming down everyone's faces, things got brighter and warmer. His family seemed to change into how he remembered them. 

His family broke the hug, and his nieces and nephews ran ahead, into an encompassing light. “Come, Lance. It's your time.” His mother said, a smile on her face.  
Lance's older sister ruffled his hair. “I've missed you, shorty.” She said as she chuckled. The earnest look behind her eyes told him everything she felt, and Lance started running ahead. 

“Last one there is a rotten egg!” Lance shouted with a laugh. 

Instantly, his sister started running behind him, and they went into the warm light, scents of home surrounding him. 

Lance was finally home with his family, and he wouldn't want it any other way.


	2. Digital Art

https://originalunicornworld12.tumblr.com/post/165528228011/i-tried-drawing-a-langst-photo-for-a-fanfic-i

 

 

Here's the link! Hope it works!


End file.
